The Mask Of Never Seeing Through
by Gray White Shadows
Summary: Allen Walker is polite, gentlemanly and helpful. Everyone in the Order knows this, along with his enormous eating habits. But is this the real Allen, or is he wearing a Mask that never cracks or breaks no matter what situation he is in - picking a fight with Yuu Kanda, fighting Tyki Mikk, or eating up a storm. Then one day it all changes - Allen drops his Mask in shock, but why?
1. Mission

**Warning - mild swearing in later chapters**

**Alternate Reality where the Timothy arc didn't contain Allen stabbing himself, and the Kanda/Alma (And therefore everything occurring after the Alma arc is nullified) arc never happened, so Allen has never been stabbed with Innocence :D**

**Disclaimer for this whole book, every single bloody chapter baka:**

***shy author points at Kanda***

**The mute-tant does not own D. Gray-man, Baka-usagi! *charges at Lavi***

**Lavi: *narrowly escapes blade with rabbit ears on his head* But she does own this fanfic right here!**

**Me: *dark chuckle* Who knows whether Katsura Hoshini will get her Allen back undamaged.**

**Tyki: Eh, the shounen?**

**Allen: ... What does shounen mean? I don't speak bloody Japanese.**

**Road: Aah! *hugs Allen protectively* Don't hurt my Allen!**

**Earl: *comes and drags everyone away for the play to start***

**Chapter One - The Mission and a certain FABULOUS hair flip by someone who will remain Anonymous for the time being**

(WARNING: If you do not like false beginnings, you can skip the following paragraph)

Allen Walker woke up one morning and pranced about like an idiot rabbit while Kanda was eating a buttload of Mitarashi Dango and Lavi ate too much Soba for his own good. And Lenalee, well, she built a robot similar to a Komulin but it was actually a Lenalin. And they all lived not so happily ever after as Road cried for Allen who died at the hand of Howard Link who was in love with Fou who was in love with Bak-dear who was infatuated with Komui who Lenalee killed anyone who got close to him. And Komui was in love with Sheryl who adored his little Road-dear who liked Tyki who was in love with the Millennium Earl, who was infatuated with the Fourteenth Noah, a.k.a. Allen Walker. And that is why Howard Link killed him. The End.

...

...

...

Actually...

This story isn't so carefree as that first paragraph, neither is it so full of pairings so I shall tell you now, there are no pairings in this dreadful book of non-yaoi/yuri (fluff is cute though :3) , so if you are looking for that, I would suggest another book.

And without further delay I shall tell you the story of Allen Walker, The Destroyer of Time, and the Noah that resides within him, Neah Walker, the Fourteenth, the Musician...

The Actual Story Begins Here:

_Allen..._

_Allen Walker..._

_Allen, listen to me._

_Mana needs me..._

_Boy..._

_Mana needs us..._

_Allen..._

Allen yawned as the darkness faded slowly. Warm comfortable bed. Noises in the distances that he blatantly ignored. Warm... The darkness seeped back in, before being shoved away by a wave of sound.

"ALLEN!" Lenalee screamed in his ear, getting fed up after calling him for the sixteenth time - she counted, because for all the times she had to call him,that number was deducted from the usual amount of Mitarashi Dango he ate at breakfast. In fact, Lenalee had only invented this punishment just now, as she realized for the first time how deep Allen slept. She hadn't been the one to wake up Allen ever, it was mostly Lavi, or Krory if the former was out on a mission or occupied with Bookman duties.

Allen jerked upwards quite suddenly in his bed at the disturbance and his head collided with Lenalee's golem that had fluttered unwisely right above him. Evidently, it was now in need of repairing as it lay in a heap of plastic on his bed.

"I'm so sorry, Lenalee, I didn't know your golem was there!" The apology rolled off Allen's tongue automatically in a hurried frenzy.

Lenalee chuckled softly, "It's alright, Allen, it's just a golem. Now hurry up and get dressed, Komui is waiting to give us a mission brief after breakfast."

There was a couple of seconds of an awkward silence when neither moved.

"Uh, Allen?" she waved a hand in front of his face. "Why aren't you getting up?"

Allen mumbled something under his breath while his face started glowing pink.

"I'm sorry?"

"I'm only wearing underwear," Allen half-shouted, his cheeks almost tomato red.

"Oh. Sorry, I'll go then." Lenalee quickly fled the awkward situation and went to breakfast.

Allen sighed and got out of bed. He'd just lied to Lenalee. He wasn't actually wearing underwear... Well, it wasn't his fault, it was the peak of summer, and his pyjamas had just made him so sweaty, so he took them off. There was no shame in doing that. One of the humans' (that were ignorant of the war between Exorcists and the Earl, obviously) great inventors called Thomas Edo-something-or-other didn't sleep with pyjamas either.

As he got dressed into his daily Exorcist uniform, he consulted Timcanpy who floated about his head.

"That dream last night... It wasn't mine, was it?" he shivered involuntarily, glancing at the mirror in his bedroom. Ever since he had "played" the piano on the Ark (had that even been him playing, or the shadow moving his fingers?) , he could see an ominous shadow hovering behind his reflection at all times, with round glowing eyes and an insane pearly smile. The shadow winked at him, and he quickly diverted his gaze.

Timcanpy shook his head in confirmation, and Allen sighed again, following him out to the dining hall where Jerry was waiting for his favourite customer - not that he was payed, in money, at least. Maybe in satisfaction of seeing said customer down most of the food in the kitchen, yes.

"Oh, look, why if it isn't Allen-kun," Jerry beamed like the sun. "The usual, is it?"

Allen nodded, "Yes please."

Jerry pulled out a cart loaded with all Allen's favourite dishes. "You can come anytime you want to, Allen-kun," he said, blowing a kiss at Allen, or maybe it was aimed for his large stomach.

Allen pushed the cart enthusiastically to his regular table where Lavi, Kanda, Lenalee, Johnny, Reever, and of course the annoying Howard Link, who had just been assigned from Vatican to keep an eye on things here at the Black Order.

"Hey, Allen, Miranda says you can juggle, can you teach me?" an annoying brat said in Timothy's voice. Allen blinked, confused. _Oh, he's talking about when Lenalee and I were in the Rewinding Town and we tried to get Miranda a job at the circus. That hadn't ended too well. Especially because that Noah, Road Kamelot had appeared with those Akuma..._

"Maybe later, okay?" he said. "After breakfast and after we've done the mission we have coming up. Alright?" he grinned, ruffling Timothy's hair.

Timothy ran off yelping in delight to Miranda, who was crying happily, glad she had done something right for once. _Poor woman, she thinks everything's her fault._

Allen continued to the table and plonked himself down on the bench and begun digging in to his Mitarashi Dango, which Lenalee had 'forgotten' to confiscate sixteen of.

"You should eat a more balanced diet, kid," the Inspector Howard Link commented to Allen.

Allen glanced pointedly at the Inspector's own plate of cakes and pies as if to say, "Look who's talking." Of course, he couldn't say that right now as his mouth was stuffed with food.

"Allen, chew slower or you're gonna choke," the eye-patched Bookman Apprentice chuckled.

"Tch. I couldn't care what happens to the moyashi!" Kanda glared.

Allen abandoned his polite manners uncharacteristically - courtesy of Kanda - and his table-mates saw him spit out his half-chewed food and hiss, "It's Allen, baKanda!"

Lavi laughed and patted Kanda's back, "Good one, Yuu-chan."

Lavi let out a sudden scream and ran for his life as Kanda chased him with Mugen drawn. "DON'T CALL ME THAT, baka-usagi!"

The drama was quickly over and the exorcists headed over to Komui for the briefing after breakfast. For some reason, Howard Link had tagged along, not caring to explain himself at all.

_I wonder what Komui wants. Perhaps they've discovered a nest of Akuma we need to destroy, or evidence of an Innocence piece. Maybe the Noah are killing more exorcists off._

"Allen, Lavi. Kanda, Link. And my beautiful sister Lenalee~," Komui squealed when they had gathered in his messy office (Allen almost tripped over a pile of papers on the floor) , and had given a curt nod after each full stop, except for the one after Lenalee. Allen and Lavi snickered and Lenalee started lecturing Komui on how to go to rehab and successfully get rid of his sister-complex disease/drug forever. Kanda 'tch'ed, and Inspector Howard Link remained neutrally silent.

Kanda got irritated at having to wait for Komui to stop fussing over Lenalee before being briefed on the mission, so suddenly a, "Get over your sister-complex, you fag!" rang out the room and shocked everyone silent. Except for Howard Link, who was already silent.

(A/N: I don't have anything against homosexuals, I actually felt kinda bad using a derogatory term for them here)

Komui stared, shocked and hurt that anyone would insult him just for checking that his poor little Lenalee was okay and unharmed by some big meanie demons - humans as well as the Earl's servants. "Err, oh, yes!" Komui came back to what he thought was reality and pushed his glasses up his nose, which glinted in the light, and shuffled a pile of paper into Howard Link's hands.

Link stared at it, then started flipping through. "Hey, why does he get to see it first?" Kanda snapped off.

"Err, he's an Inspector, remember," Komui said, and then tagged on at the end in his mind, _Not to mention pretty if he didn't have two dots on his forehead._ Komui realized what he just thought, and shook his head violently, his shoulder-length black hair lashing his cheeks.

"What, lemme guess, you've got the song _Whip Mah Hair Back and Forth_ stuck in your head don't you?" Lavi joked.

Link snorted, "If only you knew how much that has to do with our actual mission."

Lavi paled, "What, an Akuma with hair that attacks us like Jasdevi's did? Or a parasite-type Innocence?"

"...And a popular song such as _Whip My Hair Back And Forth_ is actually related to our mission as much as the price of eggs is."

Lavi scowled playfully, "You don't have to trick me like that, you know. You could just tell me what the mission is about."

"Mysterious hair about 30 metres long that kidnaps people who have just bought eggs from the market. But maybe that's just a coincidence."

There was a silence, and then Allen began giggling his guts out, on the floor, "You mean you weren't tricking him at all, that it was the truth? Pah ha ha ha ha!"

Lavi stared a moment, then a humongous grin spread across his face and he cackled with Allen's amused laughter.

Kanda merely 'tch'ed again and asked when they were leaving. Lenalee, being the Mary Sue that she was, worried that the people could be injured and hurt or even killed if the hair was of an Akuma. If it was Innocence running wild, there was a chance of the same happening, though much lower.

"You will be setting off immediately, in five minutes. This is the Finder who will be accompanying you and his name is Finnigan."

The Finder who stood in the corner of Komui's messy paper-filled office nodded and stepped forward a little.

Allen wondered how Toma was. Maybe he was hunting down rumours in the far east, in China or Korea. He followed the others, drifting after them towards the waterways as he pondered on his thoughts. _That shadow's creepy,_ he shuddered as he saw the Fourteen's creepy shadow reflecting off the surface of the water.

"You coming?" Lavi asked, standing on the boat that was rocking gently from side to side on the soft ripples, holding himself steady with his Innocence hammer grounded on the bottom of the canal. Finnigan was doing the same, but with the paddle. Lenalee sat ladylike on the small bench that all boats had. Link sat on the bench at the other end of the rowboat. Kanda sat between the two benches, in the slapbang middle of the boat, crosslegged and meditating as he had nothing better to do when he wasn't eating soba, receiving missions or carrying said missions out. Who knows if he even slept at all?

"Err, yeah. Sorry!" Allen hastily jumped on, causing the boat to rock violently, and it would've tipped over if Lavi and Finnigan weren't holding on their supports.

Lavi made a bad joke or pun about, "If Allen wasn't here, we'd end up in the deep end of the war anyway," commenting on the prophecy of being The Destroyer of Time. Kanda rolled his eyes at the cheesiness of it all.

A while later, after the long and boring ride which Lavi kept cracking jokes in, they arrived at the train station and boarded their train. They sat in the private compartment together - except for Finnigan, who Kanda had forced to sit outside.

"What a day," Allen yawned as he plopped down on the seat in-between Lavi and Link. Kanda and Lenalee sat on the other side of the compartment, Lenalee finally managing to coax the terrified Finnigan to sit next to her, and made Kanda stop growling under his breath. "I'm so tired.."

"We all are," Lenalee sighed, leaning on Kanda's shoulder, the latter who glared viciously at the girl who now had her eyes closed. Allen and Lenalee started snoring after a while, Allen drooling on Link's shoulder. Gradually, Kanda closed his eyes too, but it seemed more like meditation than sleep. After a while, Finnigan started snoring too.

Lavi grinned cheekily at Link, who was still awake, and fished out a pen from his pocket, commencing to draw on Allen and Finnigan's faces. He daren't touch Lenalee for fear of Komui, and Kanda for fear of impalement by Mugen. When the train arrived in the station, Lavi had been extremely bored and had doodled all over the train window as well. And Timcanpy, who eventually got fed up and ate the pen, much to the surprise of Lavi's squeal. Link snorted, and proceeded to wake everyone up.

Lenalee took one look at Allen and Finnigan and decided to keep quiet, giggling inwardly. Lavi grinned at her as they all piled off the train yawning.

"Err, what now?" Allen stated, his face looking ridiculous, ruining the sincerity of the question.

One problem. Not a lot of solutions.

They didn't know where to start in a huge capital like this...

**A/N:**

**Allen, Red-before-he-was-Allen, Dark!Allen, Fourteen and etc.**

**No pairings unless they're canon - except tiny hints of fluff. Um, please do tell if some characters are OoC (like Komui and Allen)**

**I doubt the song I Whip My Hair Back And Forth existed back in the 18th century, but song references are probably the only things that are going to be chronologically out of place here XD**

**So this one will probably be about, what, 50 chapters or so? That is, if I don't give up and forget all about due to lack of motivation - who wants to motivate me, neh? :D I would really be ecstatic if someone reviewed because this is my first story *cough* I mean fanfiction that I'm putting up here on on my account GrayWhiteShadows, so *makes lots of happy, sad and anxious faces***


	2. Ambush

**Chapter Two - The Ambush and a certain egg fetish of which we will (not) remain unaware of for the rest of our lives.**

Finnigan had a marvelous idea. Instead of splitting up to search like they would have normally done, why didn't they all go and buy eggs, and the kidnapper would take them to it.

Only, it was agreed that Finnigan would stay at the inn they were sleeping at while they implemented this plan - so he wouldn't fall to harm, Lenalee reasoned. Kanda didn't care one jot about what happened to said Finder.

Allen plonked himself down on the bed nearest the window in the room that he and Lavi and Finnigan were sharing. Kanda refused to share with anyone (Howard Link didn't count because Komui had threatened Kanda that Jerry wouldn't make anymore soba. Kanda had grudgingly given in), and Lenalee had her own for reasons such as _Komui_ and _opposite gender_ and _awkwardness_.

Unfortunately, there were only two beds in each room, which meant that someone would have to sleep on the floor. "You can have my bed, Finnigan," Allen offered as Lavi plonked himself down on the free bed, by the door.

Finnigan mumbled something incoherently under his breath. "I'm sorry?" Allen queried. Lavi lay down on the bed and pulled his band from his hair over his eyes as if it was a sleeping mask.

"I couldn't," Finnigan mumbled a little louder, though Allen had to focus hard to make out the words.

"Sure you can. I'm good. I'm used to sleeping on the floor when I was with my Master."

Finnigan bit his lip indecisively, "I can't." His voice trembled upwards, and Allen could tell that he really wanted a bed after not having a bed for a while when Finders had to sleep outside while they were investigating rumours.

"No," Allen said a bit more forcefully but still in a kind tone. "Take it."

Lavi suddenly butted in, lying backwards with his hands underneath his head, "I agree with him, Finni-chan. Take it. Don't worry about Allen, he'll sleep with me." Lavi's eye appeared from underneath the 'sleeping mask' as he pushed it up his forehead. "Just don't let me wake up tomorrow to discover your feet in my face, eh, moyashi," Lavi jeered.

After that, they were ready to leave. "See you later Finni-chan," he grinned as they left with a grumpy Kanda, a joyfully refreshed Lenalee and an emotionless Howard Link.

"I wonder if it's another Innocence Accommodator," Lenalee mused aloud.

Kanda released a trademark 'Tch' and stomped after them in the cobbled street.

Around an hour or two later, after much getting lost, Allen walked into the green-grocer's store with a descending cloud of doom weighing down on his shoulders. They had decided that it would be Allen who was the bait - Kanda would kill anyone who even hinted that it should be him, Komui would be mad if Lenalee got hurt, and Howard Link was nowhere to be found (a.k.a. had _not_ gotten lost while the others had followed Allen), along with Lavi.

Kanda snorted behind him, and Lenalee tilted her head, wondering if anything was wrong, "Tch, don't stand in the doorway, moyashi."

"Eeh... Ehh?!" Allen jumped, startled. "Err, oh, yes," he remembered, scratching the back of his head sheepishly. He went up to the green-grocer and asked if they sold eggs at a green-grocer or the butcher - no one was quite too sure. After the kind man had given directions to the right place, he warned them of the mysterious monster they had been briefed on. Allen thanked him, and they were on their way - but Kanda took the lead because "the moyashi would just get hopelessly lost, and us with him" he said.

"Has anyone seen Lavi recently?" Lenalee fretted. "It's not like him to just disappear."

Allen shrugged. "Maybe he went to the pub- Akuma!" he cried as his left eye activated, and so did his left arm. Kanda drew Mugen, and ran his two fingers along the blade, activating it, while Lenalee activated her Dark Boots.

"This way!" Allen called sprinting away into the outskirts of Tirane, and the others followed him. "Um." he said as he reached the point where street and shops met the forest trees. "It's in this general area... Should we split up and I'll go right while you and Kanda go left?" he suggested.

"That way!" Kanda scowled, pointing to his left, where a certain hammer-wielding Lavi was gripped in a tentacle of white hair, that lead into the thick forest.

The street started rapidly emptying of people, and mothers ushered their children into houses, "It's happening again! Get to safety!"

Some didn't, before they turned into dust from the dark pentagrams that emitted from the Akuma's Dark Matter Rays.

"Lavi!" Lenalee cried. "What were you thinking, going off alone?"

"Tch, you bastard, baka-usagi."

They ran towards Lavi and ignored Allen when he tripped over something like a glass wine bottle - except it wasn't hollow - that uncomfortably reminded him of his Master Cross.

Lavi squirmed in the Akuma hair's grip, "Could you guys just help me and shout later?"

Allen pushed himself up, and peered around at the small solid object he'd tripped over. He stood up, brushed all the dust off, and picked it up by its handle between his thumb and forefinger, peering at it so closely he almost went cross-eyed. "Lavi!"

"What?" Lavi sighed, still struggling to get free, which was now apparent that he wouldn't, until the Akuma had been killed.

"Your hammer!" Allen held it up and waved it at him.

Lavi rolled his eyes, "I know, why else hasn't this Akuma died yet? Gotcha!" he cried triumphantly as Allen threw it to him.

The forest rustled, then shivered, as the Akuma dislodged itself from bushes and brambles and troublesome tree branches.

It was a giant chicken. Well, it looked like one, albeit a chicken with a white horse's mane as long as who-knows, that it used like an hairy arm, and it didn't have any feet at all, it floated in the air like so many other Akuma. Its monstrous body had no beak either, it had a strange dark mouth-shaped hole in its face that seemed to swallow light.

"Oh. It's a hen. That's why it was fond of eggs," Lavi commented. "Hmm, maybe I can make a joke about it sometime. To Gramps, of course. The 'panda' thing is getting a little old..."

"Mugen, Kaichū: Ichigen!" Kanda yelled as giant ghostlike creatures exploded from his blade toward the Akuma. A metal clanking sound emitted from it at the impact, but it didn't die. It glowed purple instead, like an old porch light flickering momentarily on the half-rotten wooden porch.

The Akuma cackled wheezily, a bit like a cross between Darth Vader and Satan when he was possessing someone, "I'm a Level 2, can't you see? My special ability is my Dark Matter armor. I can withstand several Innocence attacks. My defense is about the same as a Level 3, stupid exorcists!"

With a closer look, the mouthpiece was actually a straining board of wire-thin bone that glinted sharply in the purple-tinted light.

Lenalee leapt into the sky and floated above its head, while dodging several strands of hair that were trying to capture her, "I bet it can't withstand several attacks at once!"

"Got it!" Allen said, as he used _Kurosu Gureibu_, and Lavi used _Hi Ban: Gouka Kaijin _and the various techniques created a bright flash of light that made their heads spin dizzily, and the Akuma too.

The sudden Akuma explosion sent Lavi flying him into a wall, the impact making him drop his hammer again.

"Ugh," he groaned, his back against the wall. "At least that's over."

"Yeah," Lenalee agreed as Kanda sheathed Mugen and Allen picked up Lavi's hammer, handing it back to him.

"My beautiful Ōzuchi Kozuchi!" Lavi gave his hammer a hug (its head was about the same size as a person's torso now) and then shrank it down in a matter of a couple of seconds and sheathed it.

Link suddenly stumbled out of a small side-alley looking very dazed, the world spinning and swirling in his eyes like a dewy spiderweb hidden in the mists of a heavy fog.**  
**

"Link!" Allen cried, and hurried over to support him before he collapsed. "What happened? No one could beat you up like that, could they?"

Kanda 'tch'ed disapprovingly and supported Link under his other arm.

"We should get back to the hotel," Lenalee said, worryingly feeling Link's forehead as his head lolled backwards as Kanda and Allen dragged him back to the hotel. "He's feverish. Which way is it to the hotel, Allen?"

"Err, Lavi, you can lead us this time... I forgot where we came from," Allen scratched his head nervously, a sweat-drop rolling down his forehead until it dripped off his chin.

"Good thing I have an eidetic memory, sa?" Lavi brushed his hair out of his eye and grinned like a cheeky monkey. "That way!" he pointed and did a pretend march that turned into a jumpy skip. "Hurry," he groaned at Allen and Kanda as they stumped along the cobbled streets.

"Give them a break, Lavi, I'm sure Link's just really heavy, what with eating all those pies," Lenalee smiled softly. "I just hope he's alri-"

"NO! He's not _that_ heavy!" Allen and Kanda chorused indignantly, Kanda adding a much unneeded 'baka' at the end. When they said this, they broke into a sprint to prove this, two minds unintentionally working together.

"Wait, you're going the wrong way, moyashi and Yuu-chan!" Lavi called after them.

After a while, of Lenalee and Lavi chasing after them and Allen and Kanda speeding away, they finally got to the hotel, Lavi triumphantly knocking on the door under the twilight sky as he held the imaginary dog leads attached to Allen and Kanda's necks. Lavi, following Komui's example, had told Allen he wouldn't be allowed to order any Mitarashi Dango, and would have to eat a normal sized portion, and Kanda wasn't allowed any Japanese food at all if they didn't stop. Of course, that had only worked when Lavi and Lenalee had got close enough to be heard over Allen and Kanda arguing and pulling the unconscious Link this way and that.

Once they were inside, after the hostess had told them off for returning so late, Kanda took Link from Allen, slung him over his shoulder unceremoniously, and stomped up the stairs to their room. Allen, Lavi and Lenalee followed tentatively, and greeted Finnigan at the landing.

"What happened?" Finnigan fretted over Link's unconscious body. "How did this happen? Is he okay?"

Allen shrugged and Lenalee answered for everyone, "We don't know. After we defeated the Akuma, he stumbled out of an alley the way he is now."

Kanda dumped the body on a bed untidily, and Link's torso slipped off the bed and hung sideways upside-down, his limp arms trailing on the floor.

"Kanda!" Lenalee scolded as Finnigan heaved Link onto the bed properly, and arranged his limbs correctly. "Be more gentle with him."

"Tch. Not my fault if he was ambushed," Kanda grumbled.

Finnigan fetched a bucket of water and a damp cloth and lay it on Link's feverish forehead. "His temperature is too high, we need to bring it down immediately," he said, taking charge the moment it was definite that Link needed a doctor, or at least a medical trainee.

"Finni-chan, are you a doctor?" Lavi questioned.

"I've been trained, because Finders are always alone, and we almost always have to treat our own wounds, colds and fevers. Here, keep wetting the cloth every five minutes or so," Finnigan handed over to Lavi. "Lenalee, could you use your Dark Boots to create a small breeze or whirlwind to keep him cool? Allen," he hesitated as his eyes fell upon an empty space where Allen used to be, and where Timcanpy now hovered. "Um..."

"He went to eat. Mitarashi Dango presumably," Lavi piped up. "And it's no use asking Kanda because he'll just impale Link with Mugen instead."

Kanda sat on his bed meditating quietly, "Shut up or I'll kill you."

They shut up, not doubting Kanda for a moment.

Allen came up an hour or two later, his mouth full of some unidentified food, holding a big sandwich in one hand which was chomped up by Timcanpy who had suddenly sprouted a mouth and sharp jagged teeth.

Allen yelled something that sounded a little like 'Timcanpy' and tried to catch Timcanpy with his hands before his sandwich was swallowed.

"Allen," Finnigan whispered with tired eyes, as Link and Kanda were now asleep, and Lavi was leaning against Link's bed resting his eyes. Lenalee had gone to sleep in her room long ago. "Please take care of Link tonight, I don't think I can keep my eyes open much longer. His temperature isn't as bad now, but you still need to wet his forehead every hour or so."

"Yup!" Allen chirped, renewed with energy after a feast.

"Thankss," Finnigan slurred. "You can wake up Lavi and send him to bed if you want too... Night..." he stumbled off to their room.

Allen sat down next to Lavi for a while, counting how much money they had left on his fingers, a habit he'd picked up from his apprenticeship with Master Cross, though usually Allen was left counting in the red back then. He wet the cloth again after he'd counted four times, and then picked up the sleeping Lavi and carried him next door quietly, gently putting him down on his bed, and pulled the covers halfway over him.

Allen sloped back next-door, feeling quite energetic. The night was his element, when no one else was awake. Finnigan had trusted him to look after Link. _It's my duty, _Allen thought proudly.

Several hours later, he wasn't feeling nearly as energetic as he did. He would blink slowly, only to not open them for several seconds or minutes, before startling awake and settling into the cycle all over again.

His eyes closed and his head nodded to the side. He didn't open them for half an hour. _Just resting my eyes... I'll open them just now..._

His eyes jolted open as a hand followed by an arm, and then a body phased through the floor, "Oi, shounen."

**A/N:**

**界蟲「一幻」= _Kaichū: Ichigen = _********First Illusion: Netherworld Insects**

******火判 劫火灰燼 = _Hi Ban: Gouka Kaijin = _Fire Stamp: Hellfire and Ash**

******クロス・グレイヴ _= Kurosu Gureibu = _Cross Grave**

******大槌小槌 = _Ōzuchi Kozuchi = _************Big Hammer, Little Hammer**

******Above is the reason I like subs. It sounds more awesome than English XD**

**Allen never actually said that Lavi went to a pub (though it isn't OoC if you read the manga XD). What he meant to say was 'public library' (because they have all sorts of records, sa? As Lavi would say XD) but an Akuma interrupted him.**

**Satan, eh. Anyone like Blue Exorcist here? Just listen to the dub and you'll see what I mean ****:D**

**How did Link get ambushed? Don't ask me. That can be a story for next chapter :)**

**And I just abbreviated the name of the story and I got 'The MoNST'... Wow, creepy... Ooh, now that gives me ideas... Who should be the monster, people? Suggest someone. Just not my favourites. (Kanda, Road, Tyki, Lavi etc.). Though Allen is technically my favourite and this story is about him... Ehehe. Did I just scare you? Good. That abbreviation gave me new ideas. Mwa ha ha ha ha.**

**It would be nice if people reviewed this chapter :)**


	3. Mitarashi Dango is the word!

A/N: I edited Ch. 2 (3 February 2014) a lot, and I mean, A LOT so if you're confused just go back and check. ^u^. Also, I'm editing Ch. 1 so it's not as rushed at the end.

**Warning: ****A little**** swearing starts here... Too bad for a certain character that I can count all the swear words I know on ****nine or eight**** fingers XD**

**Chapter Three: Mitarashi Dango is the word! and other assorted foods.**

Allen snapped his silver-grey eyes open just to see a silky white gloved finger hover a millimetre away from his nose. A curious golden-eyed dark-grey face peered at him from behind the gloved hand. "Shounen?" said a familiar voice. "Are you still sleepy?" the Noah bent lower, almost peering up Allen's nose.

Allen snapped out of his frozen state and pushed at him with both hands, though only his left met the obstruction, his right went through as if there was nothing there but air. "Get away from me!" he scrambled backwards, heaving himself over the bed and tripped backwards over Link onto the floor the other side of the bed. Link grunted in his sleep and turned onto his side, the slightly damp cloth slipping off his forehead onto the pillow.

Tyki stood up and looked over the bed at him blankly. "It's good I can phase through things or you would've kicked me in the head there when you flailed over that," he snorted.

The door to the hallway creaked in the small nightly breeze that blew through the barely open window, moonlight barely flooding the dark shadowed room.

Tyki pulled the sleeves of his smart immaculate black suit. "I would prefer if we could take this conversation outside or something," he said, glancing at Kanda and Link. Kanda twitched in his sleep and gripped Mugen tighter, which was by his side, as if he knew they were talking about him. "But if you're still sleepy, I can always sing a lullaby to put you to sleep forever if you want," a creepy shark-toothed grin spread across his face, his eyes darkening in delight at the very thought. "I've always liked the way sub-humans' lifeblood leaks from their broken puppet-like limbs. Hmm, should we postpone this meeting?" Tyki asked bemusedly at the sight of Allen's head lolling backwards on the floor, snoring slightly, one of his legs still on Link's bed.

Tyki frowned, walked around the bed, crouched down, and poked the shounen's nose gently. Then harder. When that didn't work, Tyki slapped him. The cold satin glove was like a blast of icy air against Allen's warm cheek.

"Aah!" Allen Walker jolted awake, jumping to his feet (or, trying to at first, seeing as one leg was still on Link's bed. He flailed about a little first) and activating Crown Clown, a simple force of habit. "Ehh, what have you done to Lenalee and Lavi!" he cried before remembering they had gone to bed - or been carried to bed in Lavi's case.

There was a resounding shadow of a chuckle, the scant echoes soon leaving Allen's earshot as they faded to nothing.

"Tyki?" It was as if the Noah of Pleasure had dispersed like a shadow from a candle being lit. Vanished, just like that. _ What happened? W__ait, he had been talking and I tripped over the bed, and then... And then, I was slapped? Had there not been something happening between those two events? It just seems so hazy..._

_**"Not Tyki," a voice giggled in the back of his mind.**_

Allen started in shock, eying the suddenly empty room, expecting Tyki to suddenly rise up from the floor and grab his ankle or something. A couple of minutes later, Allen was even more unnerved than he had been before. _ Why hasn't Tyki come back yet? Is he looming up behind me? _At this, he whirled around only to see his own shadow.

This was a relief in itself, it seemed to Allen. At least it was his own shadow, and not the creepy shadow of the 14th that stared out at him from reflective surfaces. Allen frowned, then glanced at the window over his shoulder to check for the creepy yet reassuring shadow. It smiled even brighter when he looked, and Allen shuddered, turning away. _Those symbols on the score Timcanpy had. They were Mana's. How did th__e 1__4th know __a__bout them?_

Allen's body seized up when he felt a finger tap his left shoulder, the part where the Innoncence was. "You forgot something," the person said in Tyki's voice, holding out his other hand over Allen's other shoulder. Allen turned around jerkily, like a shiny straight-limbed robotic machine, coming face-to-face with Tyki, whose face was hidden in shadow. Allen dared not even glance at the Noah's hand, fearing what he would see there.

The Noah shoved his gloved hand in his face, showing Allen a dark black upside down pentagram before he could look away. The mark of the Akuma Blood Oil Virus. _It__'s on his glove? But the virus only appears on the skin. What's going on?_

The star appeared again, on the other glove, and then on his shirt and skin, multiplying until Tyki was covered in the black stars, seeming only to be a dark black figure, except for his eyes and teeth, which seemed to grow brighter as Allen looked. Tyki removed his top hat, throwing it away, where it vanished in thin air.

"Look at how much we have in common, brother," the figure said, gesturing at the mirror that was suddenly behind Allen. "Look how much that mirror reflects me and you in the same shadow."

Allen looked at the 14th's shadow, which smiled and said, "Just look at yourself, boy. Do you really believe that you're with the Black Order through and through?"

The last three words shot through Allen's head like a piercing arrow, and swam around in it like a whirlpool, echoing themselves over and over.

_... Black Order t__hrough and through..._

Allen clutched his head, the words giving him a headache. _Shut up, just shut up. Shut up__, s__hut up, shut up! Shut upp!_

_...through and t__hrough? Through and through..._

Endless.

_...through and..._

"Shut up!" Allen screamed, clutching his head. "Curse you, just SHUDDUP!" His head stretched backwards, his eyes screwed tightly shut, and he clawed at the phantom that had stood in front of him, his hands meeting only air. "JUST GO AWAY!" His scream rose several octaves at the very end, whistling through the silent night like flames. He didn't know how long he shrieked for. All he knew was that there was darkness, and sound kept it away...

And suddenly he jolted upwards from his sitting position on the floor. It was still dark, though the sky was starting to lighten like it did pre-dawn. "Wh-what was that?" Allen slurred, disorientated. "Did that really happen? Was Tyki really here?.. It felt real... Because time wasn't warped... Yes, it must have been real. But then I must have fallen asleep when I was screaming... I don't know. This is confusing," he shook his head and leant backwards, a small headache making him feel lightheaded. "Ugh, tired. I'll just sleep a bit more..."

"Allen, wake up!" said a familiar voice. Or was it a stranger?

"Hey, moyashi-chan!" _... another familiar stranger? Ugh, why is he shaking me so? Can he not - Eh, he let go - oofph, what is this strange flat wooden thing that slapped me? Oh, _he thought as his hands fumbled around,_ it's the floor. Why am I on the floor? Who are these people who think they know me?_

"Dammit, moyashi."

Allen opened his eyes, flinching at the sudden daylight that flooded through the window. "Close that curtain you bastard," he said grumpily,rolling over on to his side, realizing he wasn't sleeping on the floor like he last remembered. Instead, he was lying in his own bed - the one he was supposed to share with Lavi, presumably.

"Come on Allen-kun, it's already midday. You've missed breakfast," the feminine voice said, shaking him gently.

"Breakfast!?" Allen leaped to his feet, casting the blanket away, blinking wildly as he reopened his eyes.

A blue short-haired girl wearing a short-skirted Exorcist uniform peered at him with worried violet eyes. A Finder with brown hair and no noticeable features apart from the traditional uniform. A ginger with an eyepatch and a scarf. Didn't he normally wear that head-band thing as well? Why wasn't he wearing it? A boy with long blue hair in a girly hairstyle that reached his waist had a stoic expression on his face.

Allen frowned, rubbing his forehead as he closed his eyes against the light again, waiting for them to adjust, and for the dizzy feeling in his head to disappear. He sighed, opening them again to see Lenalee, Finnigan, Lavi and Kanda.

"The food is g-" Lavi started to say, but Lenalee cut him off.

"Allen? Are you alright?"

"Ehh?" he jolted back to reality. "Uh, yeah I am," he grinned sheepishly, scratching the back of his head.

"More importantly, you shouldn't scream at night when people are sleeping. Just a suggestion for the future. The inn keeper complained this morning," Lavi added on cheerfully. "Now we can never stay here again because you ruined his attempt at wooing a lady down in the bar. But his wife likes you."

"Lavi," Lenalee said hesitantly.

"Oh, relax, I was way better at wooing her anyway. She even asked me if she did something bad, and she said it really innocently," Lavi's eyes turned into hearts. "It was so cute!"

Allen snorted, "I'm sure that was after you shouted "Strike" like a policeman off duty who was trying to get a lady."

Kanda grunted, "'Lady?' What's up with your word choice?"

"It's called diction."

"Um, Allen, are you really okay?" Lenalee started to ask, but Finnigan beat her to it.

"Yeah, what's wrong? Did you see a Noah?" Lenalee echoed.

Allen hesitated, turning his back to them, resting his hands on the windowsill, breathing on the window, fogging up the view of a cobbled street and house roofs that were coated in thin snow.

"Snow?" he muttered under his breath. "Did it snow over night? It wasn't overcast yesterday at all, and we only got back at night."

"So it was a Noah? Was that why you screamed? Did they hurt you?" she grabbed his left hand, inspecting the cross that glowed green when he activated his Innocence. He took his hand back after she could find nothing visibly wrong.

"I-I don't know... I can't remember too well, it's all hazy, like mist. I... I think Tyki was here-..." His stomach rumbled loudly, louder than he could ever remember it grumbling before. Allen realized how faint he felt, and his stomach complained again. "Ugh," he leant against the wall, clutching his stomach. "Why am I so hungry?"

"Err, yeah, about that," Lavi chuckled nervously. "You've kinda been asleep for three days-"

"Three days!? And you didn't care to wake me to eat?" He ran downstairs as fast as he could for a starving person - which is to say, he slipped on the landing and tumbled down the stairs like a tumbleweed. He groaned as Kanda picked up his frail form and tossed him over his shoulder, taking steady bumping steps to who-knew-where.

"Ow! Your Mugen's digging into my thigh, baKanda!" he complained, feeling the sharp point of the sheath shift downwards until it was poking his ankle instead. "That's not much better," he grumbled and Kanda tched, throwing him down on a wooden bench in front of the table. "Oh, this is the inn's dining hall!" he exclaimed surprisedly.

"No way! It's Deena!" Lavi exclaimed upon seeing a tall curvy woman with long dark shiny hair wave at him friendily from across the large room. She was chatting with a short, stout lady with blonde hair and a green apron who seemed to be the innkeeper's wife. Meanwhile, the innkeeper, Ivan, was moaning at what seemed to be Deena's younger brother, who had scruffy brown hair and deep chocolatey eyes, which, when one looked closer, could actually see they were quite shallow, only looking at the outside of one's appearance instead of the inside as well.

"Dina? Is she the woman you said the innkeeper was hitting on?" Allen asked curiously as Lavi waved back and sat down opposite him, Kanda sitting next to Lavi, and Lenalee sitting next to him.

"Yeah, it's 'Deena', Dee-nah, with two 'ee's and no 'i' though," Lavi sighed dreamily and rested his head on his hands. "That's the innkeeper's wife, Suzanna. They're on good terms after she helped stop Ivan hitting on her. You should have seen it, it was so funny! He was being hit on by Suzanna with a frying pan instead," Lavi giggled. "Oh, hi Fiona! Good luck Dave, happy day to you Gretchen!" he nodded at the three children of the innkeeper and his wife, the eldest being Fiona, 24, Dave was 13 and Gretchen was 7.

"I know you're a Bookman and all, but how can you remember all their names after only being here for one day alrea-. Oh, wait, I was asleep for three, never mind," Allen chuckled nervously. "So why didn't you wake me up?" he asked as he ordered exactly what he had eaten three days ago, plus extra Mitarashi Dango. Lenalee ordered some pancakes, Lavi ordered 'a plate of nice, fresh hot girls' and winked, at which the waiter sighed and wrote down 'squid tentacles/calamari' on the order. Kanda ordered soba, as usual, with soy sauce.

"Allen, we tried everything. You just wouldn't wake up," Lenalee said, biting her lip.

"Aah, get the fuck away from me!" Kanda yelled, pushing away the little green-eyed and mousy brown-haired girl who wanted to play dollies and dress-up with him, and had accidently nudged his sword sheath. She fell on the floor and began crying as she realised that Kanda was not a nice lady who would like to play dollies, but rather a rough man with a short temper and long hair.

"Mummyyy!" she cried, running back to her mother who glared back at them as if they were monsters. Kanda glared back as if they were Akuma, abruptly making the mother start and hasten to look away from the scary man's gaze.

"We really did try lots of stuff," Lavi joined in, breaking his gaze away from Deena. "We drew funny stuff on your face, washed it off with several buckets of water and Kanda even slapped you around a bit. When he got annoyed that you wouldn't wake, he kind of... Um, kicked you _there,_ if you get what I mean. The only thing that resulted in was making the bed sheets even wetter than before."

Allen stared. "BAKANDA! I'm going to kill you!" he yelled after a couple of seconds (nevermind the "Tch, as if a moyashi like you could even try," that came after that), before calming down and staring back at them dubiously, "You're saying I wet the bed."

Lavi winced, "Technically, but Finnigan says we shouldn't have even tried to wake you up, even if it was the second day already, as you were so pale. Don't worry, we dried all your sheets and clothes out."

"Pale?" Allen looked as his arm, ignoring what Lavi had said about clothes. Yes he was a little pale but it wasn't that bad.

"Your face is worse than your arm, bro. And anyway, you were loads paler earlier, it was as if you had the colour drained out of you," Lavi clarified.

"Yeah, we were all so worried, your skin looked grey," Lenalee put in.

This Allen did pale at, "Grey?"

"It was an off-white sort of grey. See, you're doing it almost perfectly right now, look," Lavi picked up a metal spoon and shoved it in his face. Allen had a brief image of Tyki doing the same thing with his hand, but then shook it off as a hallucination. He peered into the spoon, the surface cloudy with misty breath at first, but then clearing, showing his reflection.

The one he didn't want to see. He recoiled away as the smiling face of the Fourteen's Shadow where his own reflection should have been.

"Ah, that's weird, you're even paler than before now.." Lavi faded off.

"Allen-kun, tell me what's wrong?" Lenalee shouted as their food arrived.

Allen shivered in his seat, mentally disturbed at the image he had seen in the spoon. He shook his head and grabbed the Mitarashi Dango, stuffing it in his mouth so he wouldn't have to reply. Luckily he ate like this most of the time so they weren't suspicious. Allen discovered exactly how hungry he was as he finished his food off and even offered to finish off Lavi's unappetizing squid. Lavi's face was green, and he nodded.

"Yeah. I don't think I'm ever going to say that to the waiter again. He enjoys giving me the foods I hate," he glared momentarily at the smirking waiter who was serving another table.

"Why did you say that anyway?"

"It's because he doesn't know what to eat so he lets the waiter choose for him. He just likes to imagine a waiter actually serving him 'hot girls' one time in the future," Lenalee looked disprovingly at him.

"Hey, a guy can dream, can't he?" Lavi protested.

"Lotus flowers," Kanda murmured suddenly. The others looked at each other in confusion and shrugged. Kanda was not normally so docile.

Allen blushed at the memory of Road kissing him, which had been so weird, unexpected and scary. Why did Road treat him like a playmate, instead of an enemy, like Tyki? He shuddered. She didn't like an _exorcist,_ surely?

With the thought of Noah, Allen thought of Lulubell (see Attack of Lulubell Arc in the anime) - and her Akuma servant Mimi - who had tricked them into staying at the inn, gave them only milk for dinner, and could shapeshift - her preferred form seemed to be a black cat. He thought of Skinn Bolic, who Kanda had killed. He thought of the crazy twins, Jasdero and Debitto who shot guns at each other and became one Noah - Jasdevi, the Noah of Bonds. His thoughts moved onto the Millennium Earl, who had brought this disaster down on the world to begin with, 7000 years ago.

"Damn you, Millennium Earl," he muttered under his breath. "I will stop you, at any cost. Any cost at all."

Unbeknownst to him, at that very moment, his eyes had flashed gold. Lavi and Lenalee shrank away, and Kanda's blade glinted in the sunlight in a shining arc towards Allen's neck.

**A/N: I got absorbed by all this Danny Phantom fandom in the past couple of weeks. I tend to avoid writing when I'm in a 'phase' because it kinda gets reflected into my writing. (I was irritated when I couldn't find another word for 'phantom' because it felt too... DP. And that 'just go away' scream? Totally too much 'TUE ghostly wail' for my liking) For instance, in grade 8 we had to write a short fairy tale parody and mine unintentionally turned into a Hetalia EnglandxOC fanfic. I had to redo the whole thing, it was so embarrassing XD. I'm happy now because since last chapter I've watched all 53 episodes of DP and I can finally continue this in peace :3**

**I had to rewrite this whole Chapter (twice) because I rewrote Ch. 2... Yay for rewrites XD. Bleh. Stupid OCs. I hate them. Lemme kill them off :D. Maybe I will, maybe I won't XD. Anyway. Deena is not a pairing. She is a hot girl and everyone knows that Lavi hits on them(hence what he ordered... A bit exaggerated, though). That is all. The rest are supporting characters.**

**I split this chapter into two because I thought it was too long - the average length of the other chapters was four pages in Office2 HD (iPad version of Word) in size 11 font excluding the A/N so Chapter 4 is more exciting.**

**Btw, tetraphobia(fear of the number 4) exists. I looked it up on the internet, and it's really interesting to see how Chinese, Japanese, Korean and some Westerns actually fear it so much that they skip the level 4 in hotels XD. So let's just say that Four is bad :D**

**Ironic for poor Allen, eh?**

**I listened to classical music while writing the last bit of this chapter. Grieg's In The Hall of the Mountain King; Holst's The Planets; and Rimsky-Korsakov's Scheherazade Opus 35. Inspiration much, climaxing? XD**

**So I had this in my head for a week. Then I wrote it very slowly in one. And edited bits here and there. And I've been meaning to post it since. Yay, I finally got around to it :D**

**Wow. 7 reviews, 22 follows, and 16 favourites. I feel so loved because I thought it would only be like, 0 everything. Personally, I'm thinking of writing a little one-shot - not to this story of course though XD**

**And excuse me for this long A/N ^^;**


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